There might be three or four sitting at a table, all fawning over the same guilty-looking guy. That guy might walk out with a woman on each arm. One out of three of those women are HIV-positive. No one wants to talk about it, but everyone knows about it. This came weeks after a new push from Nairobi City Council to legalize prostitution. A public protest followed the pro-legalization announcement, wherein masked sex workers took to the streets and demanded an end to sexual violence and police harassment—a bold move considering the abject terror most feel about revealing their identities or messing with the authorities.
In a city with 7, sex workers serving three or four clients each night, the ensuing political debate has been intense. When I arrived, jaded-looking women in various degrees of intoxication lined the walls on the stairs up to the bar. Some were just lying on the ground, flophouse style. It was a pretty grim scene. Understandably, none of the women allowed me to take their pictures. If there are kids Mary wants two, eventually , they get fed in the morning.
A bit of sleep, then repeat the process. Out here it is something else. So how exactly does it work? According to Mary: Approach a dude, sit at his table, ask for a drink. If he obliges, work him. Flirt, laugh, ignore the fact that he is 30 years older than you and most likely married.
I go with him, I take out the condom, we fuck. And then I leave. I have maybe three who I see often. Many of the sex workers here are single moms, desperate to support their kids and bring home enough for food and rent. They try to insist on using condoms, but often their clients pay more to go without.
_02.jpg/1200px-Vestergade_(Aarhus)_02.jpg "Teen girls in Aarhus")
Seriously, guys, 37 percent? What can I do for her? I spent more time here, and one day a man told me to come to his table. But then he told me I had to fuck him, and we left together. You bribe them and beg them or spend the night in a cell. She declined to comment on the hot-button legalization issue, but then went ahead and said something anyway. This story is over 5 years old. Mar 26 , am.
